. >> mr. nelson mandela will be released from the prison. >> there is mr. nelson mandela, a free man taking his first steps into a new south africa. >> reporter: released at the age of 72, remained vigilant that his country and freedoms rested in the hands of the people. >> i stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant. >> reporter: and for the people of south africa, mandela's release ushered in a new era of hope and the end of apartheid. >> today the majority of south africa, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. >> reporter: in 1994 south african's castheir ballot in the first democratic election. >> this morning applause for the first black voter in history. >> reporter: mandela became the country's president, the first elected by all its people. >> we are all south africans. we have had a good fight, but now this is a time to heal the old wounds and to build a new south africa. >> reporter: after ruling for five years, nelson mandela passed the torch to the next generation and became an elder statesman to the world